Tate’s First Birthday Party!

 

We celebrated Tate’s first birthday on Valentine’s Day.  We decided to do something a little different than we normally do for the boys’ birthday’s and had everyone over in the afternoon for snacks and cake, instead of the usual meal we do which always adds extra stress on me that’s just not necessary. 

Everyone arrived at 3:00 and we dug right in with Tate’s smash cake.  He was totally NOT into it!  I was shocked!  He wasn’t feeling 100% himself that day so I thought maybe that was the problem, but when we tried again 2 more times over the next 2 days he was still not at all into it.  I helped him stick his finger in the yummy frosting and he was not at all impressed!  I cut a piece out of his smash cake for him thinking maybe he’d like that but still no!  Silly boy!

My sweet grandma made a really special place mat for Tate that has a birthday cake on it and says “It’s my day!”  So sweet!  I didn’t get a clear picture of that but we will be using that for everyone’s birthday from now on!

After we all watched Tate *not* eat his cake, everyone else filled their plates with the food I had prepared.  There was cheesy hamburger dip, bacon wrapped chicken bites (that Andy stood out in 5 degree weather to grill for us, so sweet!), jalapeno poppers, fresh fruit and a really fancy cake a friend of mine decorated for me so I wouldn’t have that stress on my shoulders that day.

Once the food had been devoured it was present time!  Andy does so great helping the little’s open their gifts.  He helps with the paper a little and then lets them hold their new gifts, push the buttons, listen to the music, drive the cars around, whatever – instead of just setting it aside and moving on to the next gift.  It draws things out a bit for our guests but I think it’s important for the kids to play with their new toys and show the giver how much they love their present.

We got Tate the rocking horse.  He loves it!  Well, until big brothers rock him a little too hard on it! 

Once the gifts were all opened Tate played with his gifts until our guests left. He didn’t get an afternoon nap and like I said, wasn’t feeling 100%, so about 6:00 I took him back to bed.  I rocked him in the chair and read him a book and he feel asleep on my lap, something he hasn’t done in months!  It was so sweet and special, the perfect Valentine’s gift to me from him!  He slept all night long and was back to himself the next day.  Darn teeth coming in!

Tate sat on my dad’s lap for quite awhile and I got this funny picture of them.

It was a really special afternoon, everyone made Tate’s first birthday magical and memorable!